From Groot to middle-school, it’s a graphic novels post!

GROOT by Jeff Loveness and Brian Kesinger has Groot and Rocket heading to Earth to take in the sights when pirates kidnap the sentient tree (he has the bigger bounty, by far). An outraged Rocket sets out to rescue his friend, leading to encounters with the Silver Surfer, Skrulls and eventually the X-Men. Fluffy fun, but that was the goal and the creative team accomplished it well.

SUPERHERO GIRLS: Hits and Myths by Shea Fontana and Yancey Labat has Diana preparing to take her schoolchums to Themyscira for a slumber party only it turns out the Batplane Batgirl was going to fly them inn has been stolen. Hunting the missing plane involves descending into hell to confront Trigon and Raven (“Saving you will teach Dad a lesson — I’m tired of being homeschooled so that I can’t be expoesd to goodness.”) and Miss Martian having a Battle of the Bands with Black Canary and Silver Banshee. Fun, and I really love this origin for Etrigan, a demon whose encounter with human poetry inspired him to reform.

CAPTAIN MARVEL: Strange Magic by Kelly Thompson and David Lopez was a disappointment after the previous two volumes. Terrified that in the fuure, the magus Ove will kill everyone she loves, Captain Marvel sets out to learn magic, eventually turning in desperation to the Enchantress. This was amusing enough, but it’s too heavy on the “hot mess” cliches showing Carol may be a hero but her personal life is in constant freefall.

BITTER ROOT: Rage and Redemption by David Walker, Chuck Brown and Sanford Greene was a hard story to follow due to a multiplicity of flashbacks and a large cast involved in several plotlines. What’s significant is the Sangerye family discovering much of what they know as a new breed of demon shows up on Earth instead of the Jinoo they were fighting in V1. That said, I love that this establishes other American minorities — Chinese, Jewish, Irish, Mexican — have their own monster-hunting families (logical enough as the Jinoo are born of white prejudice) and they all have their own monster-slaying traditions and names for things. I’ll be back for V3 eventually.

SMILE by Raina Telgemeier, is a memoir of the author’s middle-school years after she fell and knocked out her two front teeth. Result: braces! Shame! Self-consciousness! Will the guy she likes ever notice her now? This one didn’t work for me.

#SFWApro. Cover by Greene, all rights remain with current holders.